diff --git a/lib/fs.js b/lib/fs.js
index e7338997a5f1df..5fb1784605700e 100644
--- a/lib/fs.js
+++ b/lib/fs.js
@@ -813,7 +813,7 @@ function mkdir(path, options, callback) {
   path = getValidatedPath(path);
 
   if (typeof recursive !== 'boolean')
-    throw new ERR_INVALID_ARG_TYPE('recursive', 'boolean', recursive);
+    throw new ERR_INVALID_ARG_TYPE('options.recursive', 'boolean', recursive);
 
   const req = new FSReqCallback();
   req.oncomplete = callback;
@@ -832,7 +832,7 @@ function mkdirSync(path, options) {
 
   path = getValidatedPath(path);
   if (typeof recursive !== 'boolean')
-    throw new ERR_INVALID_ARG_TYPE('recursive', 'boolean', recursive);
+    throw new ERR_INVALID_ARG_TYPE('options.recursive', 'boolean', recursive);
 
   const ctx = { path };
   binding.mkdir(pathModule.toNamespacedPath(path),
diff --git a/lib/internal/fs/promises.js b/lib/internal/fs/promises.js
index cc907c8c9eae68..927bf739e79763 100644
--- a/lib/internal/fs/promises.js
+++ b/lib/internal/fs/promises.js
@@ -333,7 +333,7 @@ async function mkdir(path, options) {
   } = options || {};
   path = getValidatedPath(path);
   if (typeof recursive !== 'boolean')
-    throw new ERR_INVALID_ARG_TYPE('recursive', 'boolean', recursive);
+    throw new ERR_INVALID_ARG_TYPE('options.recursive', 'boolean', recursive);
 
   return binding.mkdir(pathModule.toNamespacedPath(path),
                        parseMode(mode, 'mode', 0o777), recursive,
diff --git a/test/parallel/test-fs-mkdir.js b/test/parallel/test-fs-mkdir.js
index c911587753a091..417f5c7e06b8b5 100644
--- a/test/parallel/test-fs-mkdir.js
+++ b/test/parallel/test-fs-mkdir.js
@@ -229,7 +229,7 @@ if (common.isMainThread && (common.isLinux || common.isOSX)) {
       {
         code: 'ERR_INVALID_ARG_TYPE',
         name: 'TypeError',
-        message: 'The "recursive" argument must be of type boolean.' +
+        message: 'The "options.recursive" property must be of type boolean.' +
           received
       }
     );
@@ -238,7 +238,7 @@ if (common.isMainThread && (common.isLinux || common.isOSX)) {
       {
         code: 'ERR_INVALID_ARG_TYPE',
         name: 'TypeError',
-        message: 'The "recursive" argument must be of type boolean.' +
+        message: 'The "options.recursive" property must be of type boolean.' +
           received
       }
     );